How To Campaign For Your Marketing And Advertising Budget

What do marketing campaigns and William Wallace have in common? Read on to find out, and to learn how to advocate for and see the highest return from your marketing efforts.

Marketing isn’t a monthly cost, it’s a long-term investment, and at one point or another you’ll have to sell your plan to an investor, a CEO, the board, or maybe even a disapproving parent who thinks your job is to like things on Facebook. Here are some tips and ideas to help you defend your marketing budget, and even pitch for a larger one:

Tie marketing efforts into the core revenue indicators. How does your CEO determine the bottom line? Make sure you’re speaking the same language. You might be monitoring incoming calls from a paid search ad and determining the number of monthly quality leads, while your CEO/Board/superior is watching total units sold. Bring it together to show that marketing = units sold.

72% of CEOs think marketers ask for more money without projecting the ROI. Prove that you can quantify the benefits of digital marketing by communicating with your accountant or accounting team and knowing your numbers.

Pay attention to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) on your monthly reports from Adpearance. We’ll work with you to make sure we’re monitoring the metrics that mean the most and reporting on the numbers you need to see.

Get internal team buy-in for marketing. Your sales team and/or service team spends the day talking to current and potential clients—how did they find you? What impressions and opinions do they have about the company? What’s working? The whole team wins when you close the deal—make sure you’re identified as a key player.

You’re probably using social media. If not, talk to us about the difference social media can make in your marketing efforts, and ask your teams if they’d like a stronger voice in your networking.

Meet regularly with your sales team! Know their activities, their incentives, and get them on board. One hand washes the other.

Be an expert on digital marketing and advertising. We want our clients to know what we’re doing for them, and we want you to know how our strategy works. When you walk into a meeting, know more than anyone in the room.

Break it down. My marketing background has taught me to think in objectives and strategies, and my boss thinks in terms of action items and cost. You’re an expert now, so you can defend the items in your budget.

Instead of listing “social media networking,” in your marketing proposal, break down the complete process. For example, include which networks you’ll be engaging on, what steps are included in the setup of each, the frequency in management, etc.

Set goals in dollar amounts, and be honest. Don’t be afraid to tie a projected profit to your action item. This will add credibility to your efforts and create a tangible outcome. Be honest and realistic with your goals. Don’t forget SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed.

Share the wealth. Educate and empower your higher-ups. For example, give them a glossary of terms for reference or create a personal social media account for them to play with. You’re opening a new channel to the audience—what might the CEO want to say?

Share some useful statistics and reports to get the ball rolling: 82% of consumers are more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team engage on social media.

Lavish your boss with expensive gifts. Just kidding. But know your audience. Selling Twitter to someone who prints off their emails might be tough, but an angle focused on your top competitor’s recent Twitter campaign could drive your message home.

There’s beauty in data. It’s our motto, and we live by it. If there’s a creative way to demonstrate a metric, or a process you’re not sure how to measure, we might have an answer for you.

Inno Garage is a diversified consulting group catering the startegy requirements of best of the companies around the world.With the experience of over a decade in Branding, Strategy and Legal Consulting, our team is always ready to serve your needs and fulfil your requirements. This is Inno Garage's Brand Consulting site. To get the complete list of services, visit our main site.